


Breaking Rule #1

by PrincessXenia



Series: Dragon Quest Builders Fanfics [1]
Category: Dragon Quest Builders (Video Games)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, and then befriends the future protagonist of the second game, basically the protagonist from the first game reincarnates into another kid, betaed by grammarly google docs and my best friend emily, but it’s more of a nickname than anything, dragon quest builders 1 builder goes by default name bildrick, dragon quest builders 2 builder goes by cam, i did a lot of research for things i didn't know but it might not be enough? idk, i just wanted to write something that didn’t feel like it was TOO oc-centric, i think so at least. if not… whatever. i had fun writing this., it’s nice to write 1k words for once without getting stuck too much, one line of canon dialogue from in builders 2 eventually sparked this. can you believe??, possible inaccuracies about dragon quest/builders, post dragon quest builders 1, pre dragon quest builders 2, so you can imagine ur own builder if you wanna, soo uh yeah it's pretty decently checked at least, this was a good way to bridge that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-31 05:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21085487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessXenia/pseuds/PrincessXenia
Summary: There was one particular rule given to the children living in Cantlin: no going outside the walls by yourself. However, it was easier said than done when Cam and their best friend Bildrick, known as Ricky to most, venture outside the walls, curious to find what was outside…





	Breaking Rule #1

The two children breathe heavily, their hearts pounding in their chests as they finally dash inside a cave after running for a period of time. After a moment, they catch their breath and relax, then realizing the monsters that had been pursuing them were no longer chasing them.

There was one particular rule given to the children living in Cantlin: no going outside the walls by yourself. However, it was easier said than done when Cam and their best friend Bildrick, known as Ricky to most, venture outside the walls, curious to find what was outside.

However, this rule _ was _there for a good reason, because as soon as they strayed too far away from the town after sneaking by the guards, monsters began to chase them. They ran, all the way out to the nearby mountains where they quickly climbed away towards a cave, hoping to find refuge.

“That was a close one,” Ricky notes, letting his body lean up against a rocky wall. Cam nods, smiling in relief, but then gives him a look of annoyance as anger settles in.

“I told you this was a bad idea, but you didn’t listen.” Ricky looks back at them in shock, but then sighed, glancing away. Instead of apologizing like Cam expects, he focuses on the situation at hand. Ricky walks over to the opening of the cave, looking down at the ground beneath them. Cam decides to not scold him further and joins him a moment later, cautiously looking down. There were still monsters down the mountain, but they were not nearly as nimble as the two children were. They would easily be caught if they left the cave and went back down, however.

Ricky just shook his head and walked deeper into the cave, Cam following them. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get back to town right now… probably have to wait on the guards, if I were to take a guess.”

“That could take a while,” Cam notes… but comes to the same conclusion. They didn’t have weapons or armor as the guards did, which was why they were out here in the first place. “So… we’re just going to wait here?”

Ricky nods. “Guess so.” He looks around the cave, stopping when something catches his attention. He suddenly mutters to himself as Cam’s attention is pulled to the object further back in the cave. “Goddess, why would one of those be here in just a random, old cave…?”

To Cam, it looked like just a wooden table. A poorly built, large table. But Ricky himself seemed to recognize it as much more. Cam decided to ask, clueless. “What is it, exactly?”

He crosses his arms, closing his eyes in thought. “It’s a Builder’s workbench… a basic one, at that.”

That’s right, Cam remembered. Despite being a preteen only a few years older than them, Ricky was an apprentice to the town’s Builder. They were a person capable of building things with magic. Ricky’s training mostly consisted of simple things as he was still young, but a full-fledged Builder could build tons of things. Furniture, items, tiny and enormous buildings… even the walls that surrounded the town were made by a Builder. It was safe to say that being a Builder had its own difficulties, but it was a job that wouldn’t go out of demand anytime soon.

“Can you build something on it, then?” Cam asked him, with a curious tilt of their head. They could imagine such amazing structures to escape with. A rainbow of colored blocks leading back to the town. A faux monster suit to sneak by the real monsters. “Ooh, how about a flying chicken to fly over all the monsters?”

That got a laugh out of Ricky, more or less to Cam’s dismay. “Well, it still requires _ materials, _ regardless of what I want to build. And I don’t think I have much on me…” He kneeled down and pulled his backpack off, sifting through it to find something, _ anything _ he could use to build with, eventually finding a few pieces of wood and some oil. “Well, I can at least build a bonfire. That way we won’t get cold.”

Hearing that, Cam became a bit disheartened. “How long do you think it’ll take before the guards get here…?”

Ricky hums, shuffling the materials together to carry over to the workbench as his backpack softly plops over onto the floor. “Well, it’ll be dinnertime soon, so probably then our parents will realize we’re missing. They’ll inform the guards, who will hurry over here, fighting off any monsters in their way. So, probably sunset, if not soon after.” Cam could see Ricky bite his lip in quiet concern, proceeding to walk over to the table and placing the materials down. And then he paused and turned to face Cam.

“I’m sorry.” There was the apology they’d been waiting for. “I just wanted to get outside the town once… didn’t realize it would be plagued with monsters, much less you _ actually _following me into my stupidity.”

“I forgive you, Ricky,” Cam replied with a smile. They were not one to hold grudges, especially if the person in the wrong apologized in such an honest fashion. “I just couldn’t leave you to go by yourself, though. We’re friends, right?”

A smile spread across his face. “Of course we are.” He nodded in confirmation, turning back to the worktable. “Wanna see me work my magic?”

Cam walked over to the table, standing beside the workspace as Ricky got to work. Though, it was really hard to say if it was even really _ work _. All he had to do was assemble the wood and oil in a puff of magic with an odd smile on his face, and from the magic appeared a lit bonfire. But Cam was young; impressionable. They’d never seen a Builder build anything, so it awed them as Ricky expected it would.

The fire crackled and popped as Ricky pulled some weird looking gloves out of his pocket, slipping them on. Safety gloves from the fire, Cam considered, but in reality, the gloves had more purpose than just that. He lifted the lit bonfire over his head to their surprise, and then placed it on the floor in the middle of the cave.

Back into his pocket the gloves went, and he wiped his brow even though it was easy enough for him. After all, it was just a bonfire. It took him no time at all. But, Cam was impressed and Ricky was a bit of a comic, so they passed the idea off as him just being silly.

As the light began to dim outside, the two sat next to each other by the fire as it continued to give off heat and light with no sign of stopping. For some time, the children just sat there, watching the fire and listening to their surroundings. Cam decided to speak up first, presenting a question to their friend. “So, why did you decide to become a Builder anyways…?”

Ricky hummed, thinking on how to answer. He hadn’t been a Builder’s apprentice for very long, and even then they had avoided talking about it, instead pursuing games with the other kids or talking about family until they were called home. 

“Well, my teacher said I had innate skill for building.” They looked at him funny, confused on his wording. “I have a _ natural _ skill for it. I was born to do this.”

“You were born to do it…?” Cam looked a bit glum. “So does that mean I can’t become a Builder too?”

“No, no,” Ricky shook his head, “That’s not what I mean at all. It just means I’m better at it.” Cam’s face lit up. He smiled back at them, continuing. “My teacher said a Builder only needed three things,” he counted on his fingers as he listed them off, “inspiration to create, determination to build, and a cheerful look to encourage others to do the same.” 

“So that’s why you were smiling like that…”

Ricky nodded. “Not only because my teacher told me to, but because building is supposed to be fun above all else. If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point of building?” It was a childish disposition, but it was what was important to both Ricky and his teacher. And suddenly, it was important to Cam too.

Cam smirked. “So, if you _ could _ build a flying chicken, you would’ve?”

Ricky chuckled. “Of course I would’ve. That certainly would’ve been a triumphant entrance.” Cam laughed, and Ricky joined in, their laugh infectious.

After some more time had passed, Cam's eyes started to feel heavy. Today_ had _ been a long and difficult day for both of them, after all. Cam leaned on Ricky’s arm, who simply embraced it without much thought. “I want to be… a Builder too someday…” Their voice was quiet and groggy as they were starting to fall asleep.

Ricky looked down at his drowsy friend and gave them a comforting look as they fell deeper and closer to dreamland. Before they fell asleep, before finding themselves safely at home the next morning, they heard Ricky speak softly in reply. 

“And I know you’ll be one too, Cam.”

**Author's Note:**

> my beta, emily, after giving her a list of names to chose from: cam > camera > first person camera mode > IMMERSION SATISFIED  
me: FSDFSDJKL  
me: shoot this game DOES have first person mode
> 
> So... Dragon Quest Builders 2. I can't even exactly remember how I came across it, but I fell in love with this game. The story, the characters, the gameplay... ugh, yes. Probably in my top 3 games for the year. Probably beat the main story in less than a week, though it's most likely easier than it sounds. I just found myself wondering if a fanfic fandom even existed here on AO3, and it did, thankfully. 
> 
> Malroth brings up in one of his post-game (?) conversations that the player is from Cantlin and given I had no previous experience with the Dragon Quest series, I had to look it up. That's when I stumbled across Builders 1 and, after much research with as much as there is on the wikis anyway, it eventually led to this. 
> 
> I'd like to write more at some point. I've been considering a multi-chapter fic, but maybe a later point when I'm more confident that I'll stick to it. So, for now, I'll just aim to write some more one-shots. Maybe with more Bildrick/Ricky? Dunno, just like the idea of having the Builders 1 protagonist (more or less) around the Builders 2 protagonist and particularly being their inspiration to become a Builder. 
> 
> Please let me know if you're interested, though, even with a simple kudos! I'll probably still write them for fun anyways, but it's nice to know if people like it enough to put in the effort to post more because... phew, it takes a bit to properly set up an AO3 work. Not that it's a bad thing, though.


End file.
